Vero Beach backs down, will offer special election to settle lawsuit with former candidate

Who will represent residents in Indian River County in 2018?
Maureen Kenyon, maureen.kenyon@tcpalm.com

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Linda Hillman, a former Vero Beach City Council candidate who was disqualified because of missing signatures, appears in Judge Paul Kanarek's courtroom Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2018 at the Indian River County Courthouse in Vero Beach. Hillman is suing the city for improperly removing her from the ballot after the Canvassing Board reinstated her and is asking the court to mandate the City of Vero Beach to hold a special election with her on the ballot.(Photo11: PATRICK DOVE/TCPALM)Buy Photo

Editor's note: This article is modified from its original version to add comment from additional people involved with the case.

VERO BEACH — The City Council agreed Tuesday to back down from its standoff with former council candidate Linda Hillman, offering to hold a special election — with her on the ballot — if she drops her lawsuit against the city.

After an hour-long closed-door meeting, the council voted 3-2 to negotiate a settlement with Hillman. Part of the settlement would be holding a special election within 90 days at the city's expense. An election would cost about $25,000.

On Wednesday, Hillman declined to comment until she had conferred with her attorney, Albert "Tico" Gimbel. Gimbel was unavailable for comment Wednesday.

Hillman sued the city, the city Canvassing Board and county Supervisor of Elections Leslie Swan Sept. 17 after she and Brian Heady were booted off the Nov. 7 ballot for missing signatures on their paperwork.

The Canvassing Board ordered the two back on the ballot, but on Oct. 1, the council refused to set a special election. After Hillman sued, Circuit Judge Paul Kanarek ordered certification of election results withheld until the issue was resolved.

Kanarek set a trial in the lawsuit for Dec. 17.

Assistant City Attorney Kira Honse said the city's and Hillman's counsel had previously discussed a potential settlement to the case. Honse declined to discuss details of Tuesday's closed-door meeting.

The special election would take place in late January at the earliest, but more likely would be in February, Honse said. If both parties agree, the proposed settlement must be submitted to the judge, she said.

The council's motion asks Kanarek to void the Nov. 7 election results and order the special election.

Mayor Harry Howle on Tuesday night said he hoped a settlement would allow the city to move forward.

The issue was "tearing at the fabric of our community," he said following the meeting. "Let's just do what we can to move on. There were shortcomings on both sides. Rather than argue, (we're) just trying to heal the community."

Heady — whose name would be reinstated to the ballot along with Hillman's — said he was pleased but concerned fewer people would turn out for the special election.

"The election gives the public the opportunity to come back out," he said. "That's what should have happened in the first place."

Council members Laura Moss, who is running for re-election, and Val Zudans voted no on the proposed settlement.

"I didn't think it was right for the city to spend $25,000 to hold a special election because (Hillman) did not qualify," Zudans said. "I don't think it's fair to the citizens of our community to spend $25,000 because one of the candidates did not complete her paperwork."

Moss said she was disturbed by the action taken Tuesday night, saying city law backs the council's original decision against holding a special election.

"Is the council now cherry-picking which laws it stands behind?" she asked Wednesday. "Did you hear that thud last night? That was the sound of the council throwing your vote in the dumpster."

Councilman Lange Sykes, who did not seek re-election in November, made the motion for the settlement.

"Given the information we received today from the city's attorneys, it was the right thing to do for the residents," Sykes said in a text.

Under the proposed settlement, each party to the lawsuit would pay its own legal expenses and none would admit fault, Howle said. The special-election ballot would have six candidates: the original four — Robert Brackett, Robert McCabe, Moss and incumbent Tony Young — and Hillman and Heady. There would be no new qualifying period for additional candidates, he said.

Moss, Brackett and Young were the top vote-getters in the Nov. 7 election. McCabe came in fourth.

Zudans predicted the results of the special election would be the same. Hillman's chance of winning an election after suing the city, he said, "is almost zero."

While not part of settlement negotiations, Indian River County Attorney Dylan Reingold said Swan's office would accept a 90-day time period for a special election. The county has incurred no additional costs for defending Swan. Reingold has handled the case in-house.